Dark red buds sounds like my Queen of the Night. Look in PF, and read the comments I left, there is a link I put there on the breeding.
Helleborus discussion: Part II
Thanks Wallaby
How do you know if you have something unusual? I have many Orientalis that are different shades ranging from dark red to pale green almost white and pinkish in between. Actually some of them look like the "special" ones but probably are not~~~~~~
Here's the pic- backround is clearer than the bud, but you get the jist..
one of mine
Anita your plant does look similar to Queen of the Night, there is a little purple colouring to the young leaves and the stem is darkish, but the flower bud looks a little too elongated. QotN has plump rounded buds, I would say it has that in it's breeding, but many plants are grown from seed and will only have some characteristics. QotN has been grow from seed in order to increase stocks sufficiently for sale, and is as such named with the word 'Strain' after it. This however is a controlled selection.
To answer your question levilyla, if you look at this link it will describe much of what happens to breed a variety. Unless a Hellebore is bought as a specific named variety there is no other way to describe them than as 'Helleborus orientalis hybrid', which yours does look like. There are other species crosses but generally this is the one most sold, and they can include crossing from other species.
http://www.hellebore.com/orientalis/orientalis/ohq.html
levilya I forgot to say, yours is a very nice selection whatever it's breeding. When you see that only SOME with certain characteristics are selected and reselected in order to develop as pure a strain from seed as possible, you can imagine the rest will be sold, they are after all good plants, just not the ones they wanted, but will look a lot like named varieties.
Thanks..I never have bought anything but the regular ones so what ever I have has just reseeded and done its' own thing I suppose.
You are all killing me with hellebore talk. Mine are under 5 feet of snow! I might see blooms by May if I'm lucky.
Here's a 'field' of them I saw in Victoria, BC last week.
so, if I am lucky enough to get any seed - can I let it reseed itself or should I collect it and propagate it myself? Recommendations?
Todd you must be dead several times over by now! 5 feet of snow I would say is just a bit frustrating, I feel frustrated by our colder than winter weather here!
Those were growing naturally in BC? I'm actually not sure of where they come from naturally, anything interesting mostly hails from China! Was this a field grown for commercial purposes? They look like hybrids. Oh well, at least you got to see some!
May, oh that is a long wait, what can I say?
Anita you can collect them and sown, you will probably be able to control it better that way. I have left some to self sow and some do grow, but slugs like them when small so you can lose most. The seed are ready mostly by end of July and should be sown as soon as possible but kept dryish until the autumn, they will germinate mostly late December onwards in mild spells, i grow them in a cold greenhouse.
Thanks Wallaby - I'll do some reading until it's time to harvest them. I might tap you for your expertise again around then.
I have never collected seed..just let the ants carry them off and then if I don't like where they are I transplant them...Never had slugs bother them. And Todd what a fabulous show of them...were they just growing naturally?
Wallaby, they were not 'wild' in Victoria, just masses planted to cover a large semi-shaded area. That garden I visited literally had hundreds of hellebores....that and Ericas....they are well known for their 'winter' garden.
I'd say my Eranthis and Hellebores are in bloom under the snow! I might be joking but a similar thing happened in 2001 when we had tonnes of snow and literally, they were in bloom as the snow receded.
Can't hold nature back eh? Sounds like the bulbs that bloom as snow melts in the Chilean mountains. They say a 'blanket' of snow keeps them warm!
If that's the case, mine are downright HOT!
Hey, Todd has the HOTTEST hellebores around!
Todd is hot! (I can say that because I am old enough to be his great grandmother)
Congratulations kb! Do I detect a note of 'shock', you should be shouting for joy! What a great read up, and I saw the word 'Strain', that sounds good!
I wonder if those greens and yellows are really THAT green and yellow...never seen one in person.
Actually my Ashwood hybrid with the spots turns a green colour eventually, which I like, so haven't felt a real urge to get a green one! Been tempted though......
Not shocked, just happy to add to my one hellebore, which I checked this morning and all previous foliage is black and crinkly dead, with one new shoot of growth coming out of the ground. So...not dead, but starting from scratch, I guess.
I finally got a pic of my Royal Heritage baby I got last spring from Forestfarm. It seems happy, but no bloom :(
Perhaps a little young yet, maybe next year. Some of the newer hybrids get big quickly, but most flower in 3 to 4 years. Another year to wait!
This is my hellebore from last spring (mid-May in my case)...could this one be Queen of the Night? It never had a cultivar name when I got it...I didn't even know what colour it would be until it bloomed 2 years ago.
Close, the buds do look a little elongated where QotN is rounded, stems not dark either, possibly a seedling from a cross. Well you would have to have one anyway that looks like mine, that is written in the stars!
Mid May? Mine was starting mid January and the season's a month late here!
Todd, Name's not as important as the plant itself and that is drop dead gorgeous. Really nice pic. Ken
That is a beauty Todd.
here you all are!! I missed the link to the new thread and figured everybody either had the flu, was snowed in, or like me enjoying freakish warm weather and seldom inside
we had a week of 70-85 degrees and everything is popping, the epimediums are blooming and the arisaemas and hostas are up - it's actually scary, i know will have more hard frosts
i'm starting to harvest seed!!!! (way early) and want to remind you good friends that i want to give you some - please check my web site www.winterwoods.net and let me know what you'd like - i'll figure out how much postage will be and let you know, i'm thinking 2-3 stamps
i need to update the info on the had pollinated crosses as this year is quite different from last - the white double is being sluggish and the red double is pink this year, also have never had so many anemone flowered plants
here are some pics - this first the blue anemone you saw in the old thread
What a novel beauty! And you've just raised my spring excitement level another couple of notches! =)
List of things to do: send mcgina a BOOK of stamps, LOL! Just kidding, I'm really not quite that hoggish, hehehehe.
I'm so enjoying watching the developement of the different age plants I have going even without blooms yet. Next winter you'll probably hear me squeel no matter where you are when I do see blooms!
me again, i loved the cat-talk, i have the same problem - someone mentioned throwing coffee grounds around, does that work?
kbaumle - don't sell the farm to buy seeds from park - if they don't ship til june i doubt the seeds will germinate. pineknot is having the same weather i am, i visited there a few weeks ago and saw their seed stock - it's a huge bed of the picadilly strain, and while there's no doubt they have gorgeous (and pricey) plants in other areas and anything is possible with pollination, the mothers were pretty ho-hum
speaking of anything being possible, check out this volunteer, it's setting seed and losing its nectaries but it was gorgeous, double row of deep red
one more - this is the one listed as fushia star, he's been very busy
they are all gorgeous...I am so terrible with seeds but I would like to try.
levilya- it's pretty fool proof, IF THE SEED IS FRESH and you plant them right away
the simplest method is to scratch up the soil, throw the seeds down and cover them with a little more soil and then put a brick on top of it - or a piece of slate roofing tile, tho the cats can scoot that around
the hard part is remebering to take the brick off in december
keep an eye on www.winterwoods.net - i'll add more info on starting seeds
here's the bed this week (with apologies to Todd)
mcgina, I didn't buy seeds from them, but plants. 4-inch pots for $9.95 each, then I had a 15% off code, so $8.50 each. That's about what I paid for the one I bought at the Cleveland Flower Show from the Secrest Arboretum booth.
Kylee, how many did ya get? Wondering what kind of color assortment you'll end up with.
I got three. It's the Pine Knot strain. It says special emphasis on yellows, greens, slate-grays and bicolors with spots and freckles. Here's the link to a picture and description: http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=47609&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=hellebores&OfferCode=S1H